An old legend connected with the arms claims that in 1376, a knight from the region got roaring drunk and rode his horse out into the mountainous wilderness. After several days, the horse returned, covered in gold, and the locals managed to follow its trail back to one of the richest goldmines of in the area. The knight, however, was never seen again. The battlements supposedly derive from the arms of the lords of Wenns, but I cannot verify this.

I’m not sure why all the images I can find of these arms are kind of terrible. It’s a lovely blazon with an interesting story behind it, and it deserves a better illustration than I have been able to find.

Blazon: Per pale azure a church on a mount in base proper, in chief the letter Y or, and argent a wolf rampant gules

Both the wolf and the letter Y derive from the municipal arms of nearby regions. The red wolf, also known as the “Passau wolf,” has been used by the diocese of Passau since at least 1259. The Y is an abbreviation of “Yppolytus,” or St. Hippolytus of Rome, after whom the diocese of St. Pölten was named. The church is probably a depiction of the local church of St. James. The current building dates back to the 14th century, but mentions of a church on the same site date back to 985.

Blazon: Per pale gules two cauldrons in pale chequy or and sable, each containing twelve serpents, eight facing the exterior and four facing the interior proper and chequy of twelve argent a lion rampant purpre armed and crowned or, langued gules (León) and gules a castle triple-towered or windowed azure (Castile)